Tashigi was flustered when she arrived in front of Usopp's house.
She had left early in the morning, confident she was ahead of everyone else, but somehow she had still moved later than the boys and girls.
"What were they doing to leave the house already? Did they stay up all night?"
"Oh! Found you! Hey! Police girl!!"
While Tashigi was tilting her head in confusion, the old man she had met yesterday came running up in a panic, as if terrified of something.
"Police girl! You were here! Please, no, please help us!"
The old man's eyes were filled with fear, and his whole body was trembling.
"Huh? Huh?"
Startled by the sudden situation, Tashigi quickly gathered herself and asked him back.
"What happened?"
"Did pirates invade?"
"No, no, no..."
The old man tearfully denied it.
"Not pirates... Klahadore... Mr. Klahadore is slaughtering the villagers right now!"
"Mr. Klahadore?"
"Yes! Miss Kaya's butler! For the past three years we thought he was a good man... but now he's got knives on his fingers and is attacking the villagers wherever he pleases!"
The old man spoke through tears.
"We tried talking to him, but he won't listen! If this keeps up, we'll all die! You're a police officer, aren't you? Even if this isn't Chiroro Island, please help us!"
"Three years? Knives on his fingers? Klahadore... Klahadore... Klah... Kuro!"
Having picked out the key words from the old man's story, Tashigi grabbed him and asked,
"Where is it? I'll go support you right away!"
"It's over there to the east! Please, stop him!"
In the direction the old man pointed, Tashigi immediately used [Rokushiki] and sprinted off.
"Miss! You left your video Den Den Mushi behind!"
The old man picked up the video Den Den Mushi Tashigi had dropped and shouted after her, but by then she was already gone.
*
"Kyaaah!!"
"S-save me!!"
"Agh!"
Already consumed by madness, Kuro's frenzied indiscriminate attacks struck every villager who entered his range.
"Die! Die! Die! I can't stand it anymore! All of you, just die!"
Madness.
"I'll slaughter the whole village! Drop dead, all of you!!!"
Kuro's roaring, indiscriminate assault was nothing short of hell itself.
The blue grass and clear sky that usually defined Syrup Village were stained red.
"Please... please... Mr. Klahadore..."
A man dropped to his knees and begged Kuro desperately.
Seeing him, Kuro's lips curled in a sneer.
"Know your place! Trash like you should all die!"
"N-no!!"
Just as Kuro raised his hand to cut the man down, something flew in from far away.
"Gomu Gomu--- Slingshot!"
"Huh? Gah!"
Kuro was thrown backward by the sudden blow to his abdomen.
"Don't get cocky just because you landed a sneak attack! You cat bastard!"
"Damn it, you've really made a mess of things."
"Why am I dragged into this too..."
It was Luffy and his crew.
Of course, Usopp was with them too.
"Thomas... Auntie Rika... everyone... Kuro!!!!!! You bastard!!! I'll never forgive you!!!!!"
At Usopp's rage, Kuro pushed up his glasses and said,
"Forgive me? Who are you to talk about forgiveness? I never cared about the villagers in the first place! I only wanted to take some money and live a peaceful life!"
Kuro's face twisted like that of a demon.
"But now it's all ruined! My subordinates were caught by the Marines! And I don't have the patience to gather a new crew and start over!"
"Don't take out your ruined plans on innocent villagers!"
Usopp roared.
"You're nothing! Just a despicable piece of trash! I'll be the one to take you down! Me! Captain Usopp, the brave warrior of the sea!"
With his legs shaking violently, Usopp steadied himself and pulled something from his bag along with his slingshot.
"That's right! I hate you too now, you cat bastard!"
"Just because your plan failed doesn't mean you can kill innocent people. You already can't beat us. And that's not how you use a sword, idiot..."
Zoro bit down on his Wado Ichimonji, then gripped a sword in each hand.
"Ah... seriously! Then that means he doesn't even have any treasure left, right? What a waste..."
Nami held a small frying pan, apparently one she had picked up along the way.
Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami all faced Kuro, fully prepared to fight.
Seeing them, Kuro snorted and looked down on them with contempt.
"Maybe on a normal day, but no... Even on a normal day, you weaklings couldn't beat me, and now you dare challenge me in my current state? Ridiculous! And on top of that, I've powered up! Do you really think you can take me on?"
"Die!!!"
"[Thrust Kill]"
"H-he's gone?"
"No, he's moving too fast for us to notice!"
"Just one hit! I only need one hit! Where the hell did that bastard go!"
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
In the blink of an eye, only Luffy was cut three times.
"Luffy!"
"Usopp! Stay calm! This kind of injury is nothing!"
"That trump card you prepared yesterday, the one you said was special, it's definitely reliable, right?"
"O-of course! It's only one shot, but it's my finest masterpiece!"
"Good. Then I'll leave it to you!"
Luffy took the lead and stretched his right arm far back.
"Zoro! If you catch that cat bastard, break his sword!"
"Leave it to me, Captain!"
"Gomu Gomu---"
"Hmph! How amusing. Do you really think you can catch me?"
"Pistol!"
The powerful punch, using the elasticity of rubber, shot through the air.
"K-kh!"
And it struck Kuro squarely in the abdomen.
"W-why..."
"Zoro!"
"Leave it to me!"
At his captain's command, Zoro adjusted his stance and charged straight at Kuro.
"Three-Sword Style..."
"Demon..."
"Beheading!!!"
Clang!
With a fierce metallic crash, the ten blades covering Kuro's face were shattered to pieces by Zoro's sword strike.
"No...!"
"This is how you use a sword, idiot."
"Usopp!"
Luffy, having already pulled his arm back, shouted while watching the battle with a grin.
Usopp had stretched his slingshot long and was aiming at Kuro's face.
"Klahadore! No, pirate Kuro! You're a bastard who deserves to die a hundred times over!"
"Special Move! Triple Powder Star!!"
Whoosh!
The Powder Star that left Usopp's hand flew straight into Kuro's face and triggered a massive explosion.
Boom!!!!!
"Whoa~!! Wasn't that just a homemade bomb?"
"So that was what that Usopp bastard was doing, messing with gunpowder all night."
"Is he dead? Though he did have a 16 million berry bounty..."
*
At the same time.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
"Huh?"
Click.
When Tashigi's Den Den Mushi rang, the old man hurriedly answered it.
"H-hello?"
"Hmm? You're not Tashigi!"
"Ah... are you the police officer from yesterday?"
"Ah! Are you the old gentleman who told us where Miss Kaya's mansion was yesterday?"
"Oh, so it really is you, police officer! It's just that..."
The old man explained through the Den Den Mushi that Klahadore, Kaya's butler, was massacring the villagers.
"Something like that happened in the middle of the night!"
"Yes... your companion went out to help just a little while ago. I do hope she's safe..."
"Don't worry! She's strong! But just in case, may I ask one favor?"
"W-what is it?"
"There should be two red buttons on either side of the Den Den Mushi's shell."
"Yes, yes, there are."
"Please press both of those buttons at the same time right now, then end the call!"
The old man followed the instructions transmitted through the Den Den Mushi exactly as told.
"Good! The signal is confirmed. I'll head over there right away, so please stay hidden!"
*
Click.
"Vice Admiral, the Den Den Mushi's coordinates have been locked in!"
"Good!"
Rengoku immediately turned on the broadcast Den Den Mushi and issued his orders.
"At present, one rebel in Syrup Village is carrying out indiscriminate attacks on the villagers! Everyone arm yourselves and stand by! The warship will depart immediately!
Once we dock at the coast, leave only the minimum number of troops behind and deploy the full force! Treating and protecting the injured villagers is the top priority, so the medical unit will board the small boats immediately and land at the front with the five-minute standby team!
I am heading to the village at once. That is all!"
After giving the order, Rengoku immediately rushed out onto the deck and began stepping through the air toward the sky.
[Sky Running]!
If [Rokushiki] [Soru] was the technique of running by kicking the ground at high speed, and [Moon Step] was the technique of kicking the air with explosive leg strength to fly through the sky, then [Sky Running] was the combination of the two: flying at [Soru]'s speed.
The only drawback was that using [Moon Step]'s kicks at [Soru]'s speed consumed so much stamina that even strong men at the Marine Headquarters general-officer level usually couldn't keep flying for more than a minute.
But with every second counting, Rengoku had no time to worry about that.
*
"Phew... did we get him?"
Zoro sheathed the sword in his mouth and spoke.
Then Nami smacked him on the back of the head and snapped,
"Don't say something unlucky like that, idiot!"
"Luffy, how did you know this bastard's movement pattern?"
At Usopp's question, as he lay sprawled on the ground, Luffy picked his nose and answered casually,
"Intuition."
"Huh? You figured that out by intuition? Amazing..."
"Shishishi! Your special move was amazing too. That bomb's power was incredible!"
"Of course! I made that special weapon all night to save this village!"
Watching Luffy and Usopp praise each other, Nami also felt a weight lift from her shoulders.
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